SPORTS
metronews.ca Wednesday, August 7, 2013
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Rogers Cup
Teen tennis star aces 1st-round test
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canada Summer Games
Armed man forces evacuation of athletes: Police More than 40 athletes were evacuated from a Quebec university residence at the Canada Summer Games on Tuesday after police were called to a domestic disturbance at a house across the street. “According to the initial information obtained, an armed man was in a house on Winder Street,” said Martin Carrier, spokesperson for the Sherbrooke police. “Due to the proximity of residences housing Canada Games athletes, an evacuation order was called.” THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canadian tennis wins mark a leap forward Milos Raonic serves during his first-round win over Jeremy Chardy at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday in Montreal. PAUL CHIASSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Rogers Cup. Four more Up-and-coming Canuck Canucks join Ottawa’s definitely the best feeling I’ve had in a while. It’s Jesse Levine in second “It’s such a big win for me.” round of star-studded 19-year-old Vancouver native Filip Peliwo, who beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen at the Rogers Cup men’s event It was a record day for Canada at the men’s Rogers Cup. Milos Raonic, Filip Peliwo, Frank Dancevic and Vasek Pospisil all pulled off three-set victories Tuesday to advance to the second round in Montreal. With Jesse Levine’s win on Monday, it put five Canadians
into the second round — one more than made it that far in 1992. “It’s amazing,” said Dancevic, a Niagara Falls, Ont., native who downed Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-1. “Pretty much everyone you play here is at a high level, ranked in the top 50, so to have four guys through the first round shows a
lot about how far Canadian tennis has come along.” It was a first win in an ATP event this year for Dancevic. In the feature evening match on centre court of the $3.49-million US tournament, the 13th-seeded Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., used his booming serve to overcome an otherwise so-so outing to defeat
France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in his first-round match. Raonic said he felt no added pressure to keep the Canadian winning streak going. “I’m very proud and happy for the guys that have been winning,” he said. “But it doesn’t affect myself personally. “It’s great to have this kind of good results, but I’ve got to take care of my business for myself.” The Canadian men had already reached a milestone this year when they defeated Italy to reach the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time. THE CANADIAN PRESS
Sochi Olympics. Canada’s Wickenheiser slams Russia’s anti-gay laws Canadian women’s hockey team captain Hayley Wickenheiser has added her voice to athletes’ criticism of Russia’s anti-gay laws heading into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. With the Games less than half a year away, attention has turned to a new Russian law signed by President Vladimir Putin that imposes fines on people who spread “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors and proposes penalties for those who express these views online or in the news media. Foreign citizens arrested
Canadian hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser.
under the law can be jailed for 15 days and then deported. Wickenheiser, of
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Shaunavon, Sask., will be a sixtime Olympian in Sochi. “I think most athletes in
the free world think it’s wrong what Russia has done,” Wickenheiser said Tuesday in Calgary. “The Olympics is really one of the only places in the world where people should be free to get along and perform in harmony. “It’s about acceptance, so it kind of goes against everything that the Olympics are about. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.” Canadian athletes are participating in pride festivals this summer with the backing of the Canadian Olympic Committee. COC president Marcel Au-
but has said the athletes’ participation symbolizes that sport should be open to all regardless of race, religion, creed or sexual orientation. Alpine skier and 2010 Olympian Mike Janyk and two-time Olympian snowboarder Mercedes Nicoll marched Sunday in Vancouver’s Pride Parade. Several Olympians participated in Toronto’s Pride Parade on June 30. “It makes me feel proud to be a Canadian, to live in a country that strives for equality, whether it’s race, religion or sexual orientation,” Wickenheiser said. THE CANADIAN PRESS
SPORTS
Eugenie Bouchard is being given her share of the spotlight at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. On Tuesday night, she showed that she’s ready. The 19-yearold from Montreal was in fine form for her first-round singles Eugenie Bouchard match, post- THE CANADIAN PRESS ing a tidy 6-3, 6-1 win over Alisa Kleybanova. Bouchard mixed up her effective ground strokes with some slick cut shots that left her Russian opponent stymied. Bouchard is scheduled to meet defending champion and No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova on Wednesday.